Continuous feed and pressure press



May 5,19424 I .1. c. RENAULT `2,281,860l

CONTINUOUS FEED AND PRESSURE PRESS Filed May 27, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 AQi Q n Y i E n o @1 /gwdg.

J. C. RENAULT CONTINUOUS FEED AND PRESSURE PRESS May 5, 1942.

Filed May 27', 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 5. Z z u l l i l l l Il l llLAl/IliiW lllll IIJ I l l I l l l nr .,r il@ H fw lill l| I l... llllll.. IXIII A VINI( f wi n n 0 1 IVA. .n 44 n n F n 0 .r Mw 3,\ n u 3 mmD@ Zf\ a 4MM` m Am k IIIPII M/o INVENTOR JEAN 6'. f/wwz BY 5M# M.

ATTRNEYS May 5 1942- J. c. RENAULT 2,281,860

ICONTINUOUS FEEDAND'PRESSURE PRESS Filed May 27, 1959 5 sheets-sheet sINVENTOR ATTORNEYS `the pressure medium to adjust itself, to a, cer-Pntented May 5,

miren l stares v 2,281,860

coN'rrNUoUs FEED AND PRESSURE mass reso c. mossa, senses, conf.aol-,lisation May 21, 193e, seran No. 276,205 s claims. (or. '10o-35)The present invention relates to improvements Figure 4, a perspectiveview of a conveyor slat in a continuous feed and pressure pressyadapted. used in my invention; to compress material for variouspurposes. Figure 5, a schematic detail view showing the My invention hasbeen particularly developed relative arrangement of the two conveyorreaches for the purpose of squeezing natural juices from 5 as seen fromline V--V of Figure 3; and different kinds of vegetable materials toprepare Figure 6 a detail View, in side elevation, of a the solids fordrying and further disposal. It fragmentary portionof a modied form ofcomhas scial reference to the treatment of oi-fall pression means.

leaves of lettuce in large growing and packing While l have shown onlythe preferred forms establish-monts, where the disposal of the said l ofmy invontioml Wish to have it understood olif-fall has becomeaseriousproblem. that various changes or modifications may be My invention isdesignedto allow these leaves made within the scope of theclaimsheretoatand vegetable matter to be quickly divastedy of tached withoutdeparting from the spirit of the their liquid contents in a continuousprocess so invention. as to leave a relatively dry pulp, which may be lReferring to the drawings in detail, my invenus'ed for feed or burned orotherwise disposed of. non comprises in its principal features, two end-While my invention has been designed for the leSS Chain Conveyors Ii and2 and means indioperatlon described,'it should be understood that catedat 3 for forcing registering reaches 4 and its principles maybe employedfor many other 5 of the conveyors upon one another for compurposes,wherever it may be desired to oompressing'the material interposedtherebetween.

press, commlnute or crush material, whether The conveyor l ispreferablymounted in a. vegetable or mineral, in a continuous `process verticalplane on a set of drive sprockets 6 and and inamost effective manner, WOSets 0f, idler sprockets 1 and 8, in Such a In carrying out my inventionit is particumanner as to present its long upper reach 4 in larly`proposed to utilize a pair of endless cona hOIiZOntal Planeveyorsarranged to present reaches running' in The shafts 9, I 0 and Il of thesprockets are confronting relation so that the material may suitablysupported in frame structure parts of be fed between and advanced by thesaid reaches, which are SllOWll at l0' in Fgure.3 The idler whilespecial means are provided for exerting shaft Ill is preferably mountedwith freedom of pressure on the reaches for compressing'the ma- 30adjustability and under Spring tension as inditerial passingtherebetween. cated at I2.

In this connection it is propgsed to provide A suitable table i3 withreinforcing ribs I4 a compressing means by means of which a greatSupports the upper reach of the conveyor. amount of force may beapplied, while at the The conveyor l. is made up 0f a plurality 0f sametime, it has sufficient flexibility to allow links l5 hinged together asat I6. Each link comprises a transverse slet l1 having a plurality taindegree at least, to variations in resistance 0f Sets 0f, brackets I8prOjecting inwardly thereand volume oiered by the advancing material.from, the brackets of adjacent links being inter- Itis further proposedto provide suitable means Connected by the hinge pins l5 which carryrollfor collecting the juices or liquids squeezed from 40ers 2 adaptedfOr engagement by the sprockets the material. 9 l0 and H. These rollersalso ride on the table Further objects and advantages of my inveni3 andServe as anti-friction supports for the tion will appear as thespecification proceeds and upper reach 0f the Conveyor. the novelfeatures thereof will be set forth in A detail perspective view of oneof the slats the claims hereto attached. i5 (with brackets and'ro1lers`omitted) is shown in The preferred forms of my invention areil- Figure 4f. It comprises an elongated plate exlustrated in theaccompanying drawings, forming tending transversely across the conveyorand part of this application, in which: may be perfectly fiat in itsouter face, In its Figure l shows a side elevation of the operapreferredform, however, it is formed with lattive parts of my invention, theframe structure :10` eral flanges 2l projecting outwardly, grooves 22being omittedto simplify the disclosure; adjacent the ilanges, ports 23leading from the Figure 2, a detail section of a pulp remover, groovesunderneath the flanges to the outer taken along line liI--eIll of Figure1; edges of the slats and slits 24 in the body por- Figure 3, atransverse section taken along line tion of the slats. III- III ofFigure 2; v The front and rear edges of the slats are preferably taperedor bevelled as at 25 (see particularly Figure 5), and the width of eachslat is such, as compared with the supporting brackets, that throughoutthe upper reach of the conveyor the slats form a continuous surface. asdiagrammatically illustrated in Figure 5, the front and rear edges ofadjacent slats being in contact while the bevelled edges form V-shaped,selff cleaning openings preventing the accumulation of matter betweenthe slats.

The flanges 2| and the grooves 22 of the different slats are alined sothat in the upper reach there is a continuous flange withacontinuousgroove forming a discharge gutter.

The conveyor 2 is similarly constructed. It is in the form of an endlessconveyor riding over the sprockets 26 and 2l, ,suitably supported onportion of the shoe support a similar bell crank shafts 23 and 29 andthis conveyor is mounted over the first conveyor so that its lower reachruns parallel to the upper reach of the first conveyor and in slightlyspaced relation thereto.

The upper conveyor is shorter than the lower one and the latter projectsat both ends to allow of feeding of the material thereon and removal ofthe treated material therefrom. The two conveyors are operated soA thatthe two coacting reaches run in the same direction.

The shaft 29 has a spring 29' urging the shaft rearward and a spring 30'allowing the shaft to rise under the influence of material enteringbetween the conveyors.

The links of the upper conveyor are arranged similarly to those of thelower conveyor `except that the slats 3|! may be plain (the flanges,ygrooves, slits and bevelled edges of the lower conveyor slats beingomitted) and are .slightly shorter than the slats of the lower conveyorso that the' upper'slats nt between the flanges of the lower slats (seeFigure 3) e The two conveyors are preferably arranged in such a mannerthat the slats 'stagger as shown in Figure 5,'a joint of one conveyorbeing oplever-including a shaft d3, an upward arm @d w and a forwardlyextending arm is engaging under a second cross-member d6 supported overthe shoe in links il rising from the table i3.

The upper ends of the two arms 32 and fit are interconnected by asuitable, controllable expansion means, here shown as a hydraulic presst3 having two plungers i9 operating the arms and a suitable pressureindicator as shown at 50.

, When the pressure in the hydraulic press is increased, the upper endsof the arms 39 and 44 are forced apart, withthe result that the shafts38 and t3 are forced downward, increasing the pressure of the' shoe uponthe lower reach of the upper conveyor.

It will be noted that this application of pres- 'sure is flexible in thesense that the shoe is allowed a certain amount of oscillating movementin response to variations in resistance offered by the passing material.It is also allowed to adjust itself to a slight angularity so as to havea Wedge action causing the material to thin out as it advances betweenthe conveyor reaches so that the squeezing action may continuethroughout the length of the shoe.

The pressure means thusr far described bears down on the heel of theshoe and a central portion of the saine. thus allowing the toe portion,

" which has a slight upward bend as at 5|, to rise posite the center ofthe slat in the other conveyor.

Suitable supporting plates I3 and I3" may also be arranged for the upperreach of the upper conveyor and the lower reach of the lower conveyor. j

In operation the material, such as waste lettuce leaves, is fed on therear end of the lower conveyor, from a chute 3l.. is spread over theconveyor by means of' a suitable rotary brush 32 and thereupon advancesinto the space between the coacting reaches of the conveyor chains wherethe juice is squeezed out of the material and allowed to run off,through the slits 24. the grooves 2.2, ports 23 and possibly throughslight cracks between the slats, into a drippan 33 hav ing a suitableoutlet 3l.

To allow of perfect control of the pressure brought to bear on thematerial passing between the two reaches. I provide the specialcompression means 3. This means comprises a pressure shoe or plate 35overlying the lower reach of the upper conveyor and suitable means forurging this pressure shoe toward the table I3 Supporting the upper reachof the lower conveyor.

This pressure shoe has an alined series of brackets 36 rising from itsheel end and a similar series of brackets 31 rising from anintermediate'section thereof. The brackets 36 support a transverse shaft33 having an arm 39 extending in substantially upward direction and. twoarms 40 extending rearwardly and underneath a cross-member 4l.

and to ride more easily over new material coming in. Yielding resistanceis offered to such rising movement by a cross-bar 52, opposite ends ofwhich are engaged by bolts 53 straddling the conveyor reaches andpassing through lugs 54 projecting from the table i3, springs 55exerting downward pressure on the bolts.

After the material passes the upper conveyor it is removed from thebottom conveyor by means of a blade 56 (Figure 2) which extends acrossthe conveyor at an angle so that i-tsimultaneously i engages a number ofslats and is then sucked into a pipe 5T by means of a cyclone collector.

Material adhering to the upper conveyor may be similarly removed bymeans of a blade 58 for discharge through pipe 59, which Joins theformer pipe at 6Fl. The final product may be suitably disposed of, as byburning, in which case the heat created may be used for heating thepipes 51 and 59 to further dry the material before burning.

Heat may also be applied to the lower conveyor, as at 6i, and streams ofair may be di-l rected through the grooves 22 of the slats on the lowerconveyor by means of nozzles 62.

The operation of my machine will be readily understood from theforegoing description. 'Ihe material is fed on the projecting rear'endof the lower conveyor from the chute 3|, is distributed by means of' thebrush 32 and then enters between the two coacting reaches of theconveyors. It is then squeezed and pressed while it advances,

the'squeezing and pressing gradually increasing until finally a verylarge percentage of the juices is removed and the material emerges inthe formv of a thin sheet of pulp. 'Ihe'liquid nds its way to the trough33, while the solids are picked up by the blades 56 and 58 for dischargeinto the cyclone collector.

A modified form, of my invention is disclosed and illustrated in Figure6 in which the pressure is exerted by two coacting drums 63 and 64mounted above and below the coacting reaches l and ofthe conveyors.'I'he shafts 65 and 66 may be drawn toward one another for increasingthe pressure by any suitable means, such vas the' hydraulic press 61shown in dotted lines, oomprising a cylinder 68 attached to the lowershaft, a piston 69 sliclable therein and having a piston rod attached tothe other shaft and means 1| for admitting a pressure medium between thepiston and the closed end of the cylinder.

I claim:

l. In a continuous feed and pressure press, a pair of endless conveyorsarranged to have confronting reaches adapted to advance materialtherebetween, a pair of plates bearing on opposite sides ofvsaidconfronting reaches, links projecting from one of the plates, a pair ofcrossmembers supported in the links in spaced relation to the otherplate, bell crank levers pivoted on the latter plate, one arm of each ofsaid levers being positioned to bear underneath one of thecross-members, and pressure means disposed between the other arms ofsaid levers and being operative thereon for urging the plates toward oneanother to compress material between said confronting reaches.

2. In a press, a pair of pressure members adapted to bear on materialinterposed therebetween for compressing the same, a pair of girdlesencircling the pressure members at spaced points, a pair of leversfulcrumed on one of said members and arranged to pry underneath saidgirdles, and expansion means operative on said levers for forcing thepressure members toward one another.

3. In a press, a pair of pressure members adapted to bear on materialinterposed therebetween for compressing the same, a pair of girdlesencircling the pressure members at spaced points, a pair of leversfulcrumed on one of said mem-A bers and arranged to pry underneath saidgirdles,

' and expansion means carried .by said levers and operative thereon forforcing the pressure memr bers toward' one another.

4. In a press, a pair of pressure members adapted to bear on materialinterposed therebetween for compressing the same, a pair of girdlesfronting flexible reaches adapted to advance material therebetween, apair of plates bearing on opposite sides of said confronting reaches,separate means disposed at spaced points for urging the plates towardone another, and common operating means for the latter means operable topermit of rocking movement of one of the plates with respect to theother and about an object passing between the reaches.

6. In a continuous feed and pressure press, a pair of endless conveyorsarranged to have confronting flexible reaches adapted to advance ma'terial therebetween, a'pair of plates bearing on opposite sides of saidconfronting reaches, separate means disposed at spaced points for urgingthe plates toward one another, and common operating means for the lattermeans operable to permit of rocking movement of the plates with respectto one another and about an object passing between the reaches.

7. In a continuous feed and pressure press, a pair of endless conveyorsarranged to have confronting flexible reaches adapted to advancematerial therebetween, a pair of plates bearing on opposite sides ofsaid confronting rfi-aches, sepa rate means disposed at spaced pointsfor urging the plates toward one another, and a movably mountedhydraulic motor operative on both of said means for actuating the samewith freedom of rocking motion of one of said plates with respect totheother and about an object passing between the reaches.

8. In a continuous feed and pressure press, a pair of endless conveyorsarranged vto have confronting ilexible reaches adapted toA advancematerial therebetween, a pair of plates bearing on opposite sides ofsaid confronting reaches, separate means disposed at spaced points forurging the plates toward one another, and a movably mounted hydraulicmotor operative on both of said means for actuating the same withfreedom of rocking motion of both of said plates with respect to oneanother and about an object passing between the reaches.

JEAN C. RENAULT.

